Sooner or later, a bully will pick on a victim with an egg-thin skull!
2015-M-290 State of Minnesota, Appellant, vs. Paul Joseph Welle, Respondent. [CORRECTED]
2015-M-290 State of Minnesota, Appellant, vs. Paul Joseph Welle, Respondent. [CORRECTED]
[BULLY] [[PATTERN] [LIAR]
THE CRIME: Appellant Paul Joseph Welle punched D.A. in the face outside a bar in Proctor
after the two men had been talking to a group of young women inside the bar. D.A. fell back, his head struck the pavement, and he died without regaining consciousness.
A jury convicted appellant of one count of unintentional second-degree murder, with a predicate
felony of first-degree assault, and one count of first-degree manslaughter, causing death while violating the fifth-degree assault statute.
Before trial, the defense gave notice of intent to raise a claim of self-defense. To rebut the self-defense claim, the state moved to admit as other acts or Spreigl evidence three prior incidents of assault from 2001, 2002, and 2003, and two incidents of domestic assault. The district court issued a written order granting the motion as to the three assaults from 2001 through 2003, but denying the motion as to the two domestic assaults.
At trial, several witnesses testified that a group of young women asked D.A. to intervene on behalf of an inebriated young woman who was being accosted by Welle. Saying that he was the young woman's father, D.A. asked Welle to desist. Welle urged the older man to step into the parking lot where people found Welle standing over D.A.'s body when they rushed out of the bar. Welle fled, and police found him the next day in a Duluth hotel where he repeatedly changed his story.
The trial testimony was supplemented by extensive details of Welle's three prior convictions for two beatings and a stabbing.
THE CRIME: Appellant Paul Joseph Welle punched D.A. in the face outside a bar in Proctor
after the two men had been talking to a group of young women inside the bar. D.A. fell back, his head struck the pavement, and he died without regaining consciousness.
A jury convicted appellant of one count of unintentional second-degree murder, with a predicate
felony of first-degree assault, and one count of first-degree manslaughter, causing death while violating the fifth-degree assault statute.
Before trial, the defense gave notice of intent to raise a claim of self-defense. To rebut the self-defense claim, the state moved to admit as other acts or Spreigl evidence three prior incidents of assault from 2001, 2002, and 2003, and two incidents of domestic assault. The district court issued a written order granting the motion as to the three assaults from 2001 through 2003, but denying the motion as to the two domestic assaults.
At trial, several witnesses testified that a group of young women asked D.A. to intervene on behalf of an inebriated young woman who was being accosted by Welle. Saying that he was the young woman's father, D.A. asked Welle to desist. Welle urged the older man to step into the parking lot where people found Welle standing over D.A.'s body when they rushed out of the bar. Welle fled, and police found him the next day in a Duluth hotel where he repeatedly changed his story.
The trial testimony was supplemented by extensive details of Welle's three prior convictions for two beatings and a stabbing.
THIS APPEAL: Following a jury trial in St. Louis County District Court, respondent Paul Joseph Welle was found guilty of: (1) unintentional second-degree murder; and (2) first-degree manslaughter, in connection with the death of 60-year-old Dale Anderson.
The trial court convicted Welle of unintentional second-degree felony murder and sentenced him to an executed term of 18 years in prison. On appeal, the court of appeals concluded that the trial court committed reversible error by improperly admitting evidence of other crimes.
We reverse and remand to the court of appeals for consideration of Welle’s remaining arguments.
Page (Gildea, Anderson, Dietzen, Stras, Wright, and Lillehaug)
[MURDER] [CLERICAL]
No comments:
Post a Comment